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The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has reported a 51 per cent drop in digital payment fraud, with losses falling to N25.85 billion in 2025 from N52.26 billion in 2024.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, disclosed this on Wednesday at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum Technical Kickoff Session in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, themed ‘Shrinking Fraud Losses With ISO 20022 & Identity Management’, Oiwoh said industry data over the past five years showed a marked decline in fraud cases. He noted that although the number of incidents mattered, the value of losses was more significant. Actual losses stood at N17.67 billion in 2023 but surged to N52.26 billion in 2024, largely due to a single N31.1 billion fraud incident involving one banking institution. Losses, however, fell sharply in 2025.
Data presented at the forum showed that fraud losses jumped by 196 per cent in 2024, driven by the isolated incident.
Fraud cases have also reduced steadily, falling from 123,918 in 2021 to 101,669 in 2022 and 95,620 in 2023. The figure dropped further to 70,111 in 2024 and declined by 4% to 67,518 in 2025.
Lagos accounted for 63.43 per cent of reported fraud cases, reflecting its status as Nigeria’s commercial centre. Abuja recorded 3.12 per cent and showed notable growth, while Ogun, Rivers and Delta States followed with shares ranging between 2.51 per cent and 2.09 per cent.
E-commerce and internet banking remained the most affected channels, followed by point-of-sale, mobile and web platforms.
Oiwoh said social engineering continued to dominate fraud techniques, with insider abuse posing the greatest risk. He stressed that fraudsters increasingly exploit SIM swap schemes, account takeovers and phishing, adding that public awareness remained vital as many victims were still easily misled.
He urged institutions to strengthen internal controls, closely monitor staff activities and sustain joint industry action. According to him, coordinated efforts saved about N20bn in potential losses last year alone.
However, he expressed concern over a 34 per cent decline in fraud reporting in the final quarter of 2025, warning that failure to report incidents undermines investigations and allows perpetrators to move freely between institutions.
